Shifters, Secrets & Surprises

by Lowe, Anna

  He’d been steeling himself for her to mock him for something like ice fishing, but she sounded genuinely interested. Impressed, even. But that was Nala — always looking on the bright side of things — even the bright side of him.

  “What made you come back to New England?”

  You, he nearly blurted. You.

  He’d dreamed about her the whole time he’d been away, but over the past year, the wistful feeling had become a painful ache. A need for the woman he’d secretly loved for so long. But what finally incited him to rush back to New England was a gut-churning feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Something he absolutely, positively had to prevent.

  Like a coven of vampires descending on Nala, he supposed.

  He scratched his chin, reacquainting himself with the feel of stubble on his face instead of thick sasquatch scruff. Man, maybe he’d stayed in beast form for too long.

  “Harrison?” she whispered.

  Yeah, he was procrastinating, and he knew it. What to say? How to answer? He couldn’t alarm her with the truth. I was terrified something might happen to you.

  “I guess it was just time,” he said.

  She nodded and snuggled closer, and he replayed his own words. It really was about time he stopped wandering and came back home.

  About time you talked to her, too, the little voice said.

  He clammed up immediately. That part, he wasn’t ready for. Not yet.

  “We missed you,” Nala whispered.

  He tilted his head and leaned closer. Someone had missed him?

  “I missed you,” she added, and the way her fingers played over his arms made him wonder. Maybe he wasn’t the only one with heated dreams and a longing heart. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who questioned what he’d been brought up to believe, like the fact that his kind and hers weren’t meant to mix.

  He bent his head to hers. “Missed you, too.”

  More than you know, he added to himself.

  The storm raged outside, but all he felt was a warm, peaceful glow. Before he ruined the moment by doing anything dumb, he kissed the top of her head, squeezed her once for luck, then gave her a little space again.

  “Try to get some sleep. I’ll keep a lookout,” he murmured.

  She mumbled something he didn’t quite hear and twisted in his arms, looking up at him. Her cheeks glowed in the soft light of the lamp, and her eyes were wet.

  “Thank you, Harrison. You saved my life. Thank you so much.”

  She gripped his arm and nuzzled it with her cheek, then sighed and closed her eyes.

  He stayed perfectly still, relishing an inner peace he hadn’t felt in years.

  Chapter Four

  Nala thought she’d never get to sleep. Her mind was buzzing with too many nightmares and anxieties. But the second Harrison wrapped his arms around her — his human arms, smooth and corded with muscle — all her worries flitted away, and peace settled over her.

  Mmm, her wolf hummed. Nice. Quiet. Safe.

  Which was crazy, because she was sitting on a bed of itchy hay. There was a blizzard howling outside, and she had no business feeling safe — not with a gang of vampires after her blood.

  And yet, she drifted peacefully off to sleep. A deep, restful sleep full of pleasant dreams. Dreams that jumped around in time and space, mixing real-life memories with wistful hopes. Like the time she had gone wading in a stream with Harrison as a kid, or the time they built a tree house. Some dreams were set in Boston, and Harrison appeared in those, too, walking her to classes and waiting for her to come out again. Other dreams took place in the barn they’d taken shelter in, where she snuggled closer and closer to him.

  The longer she dreamed, the steamier her dreams became, until Harrison wasn’t just hugging her but touching and kissing her. Dreams in which she twisted in his arms and kissed him back. Then the dreams grew even hotter, with his hands visiting all the hidden corners of her body that begged for his attention. She dreamed of Harrison caressing her breasts. Circling her nipples. Of Harrison smiling in satisfaction when she groaned, asking for more. She dreamed of him kissing and licking her breasts, making her nipples peak. And when he looked up at her, his eyes blazed with hunger only she could quench.

  She dreamed of being naked and open to his touch. Of his hands stroking along the outsides of her thighs, then the insides, and finally, tracing her inner folds. She dreamed of his fingers buried deep inside her, making her writhe and cry out again and again. And then she dreamed of him spreading the blanket over the hay and laying her out to admire for a while. Finally, she dreamed of him sliding into position above her and nudging her legs apart with his knee.

  The dreams became more and more real until she thought they must be happening in real time, so it wasn’t just dreaming, but truly experiencing. Like his eyes locking on hers, aflame with his own need. Like the searing heat that accompanied each of his thrusts. He’d plunge inside her, pause, then pull out and immediately hammer in again, reaching spots no man had ever found before. He thrust his hips, sliding in and out of her again and again until—

  “You good?” he murmured.

  Nala blinked, finding herself in the same spooned position she’d started in. Fully clothed and feeling like her problem now wasn’t the cold but the burning fire within.

  She opened her eyes wide. Damn. She really had been dreaming.

  Her wolf howled mournfully.

  She didn’t dare glance at Harrison, but he seemed frozen, too, and she wondered if she’d cried for him in her sleep.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, closing her eyes again.

  Seconds later, she was in another lusty dream, this time with her on top and Harrison looking up as if she were a goddess or the love of his life.

  Mate, her wolf yowled as she shattered with the pleasure he poured into her. My mate.

  When she woke again, the storm wasn’t raging as loudly outside. Harrison was still right where he’d been — sitting behind her with his eyes glued to the door. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to play cool. When she snuck a peek at his face, she couldn’t help but wonder where the little scar on his chin came from. She wondered what weather or emotions had pressed those lines into his face, too, bringing out the man who had been hiding inside the boy she once knew.

  For some reason, her mind briefly bounced over the men she’d hooked up with over the past few years. There had been a couple of wolf shifters and a few utterly disappointing humans, and none had ever sparked deep emotions in her. They’d all provided temporary relief for the desire that ran through every hot-blooded she-wolf’s veins, but none had ever made her as desperately needy or as hungry as Harrison did with his careful, touching-but-not-touching hug.

  Mate, her wolf growled inside.

  His breath ruffled her hair, and she longed to turn and kiss him. To make her dreams reality. But what if he wasn’t interested? What if he only saw her as his friend’s kid sister? What if his only interest was to rescue a damsel in distress before disappearing into the wild blue yonder again?

  “Try to get some rest,” he murmured, and she wondered if he’d been reading her mind.

  With him quietly stroking her arm, she did drift off to sleep. The next time she opened her eyes, the pink light of dawn lit the barn, and it was quiet outside.

  “Morning,” he whispered from over her shoulder.

  She turned to look at him, and shit, he looked like hell. On the other hand, he looked amazing, too. She was so much more used to seeing a younger version of Harrison that the rugged warrior she found made her giddy all over again. The hard-set, soldier-of-mercy jaw. The deep, intense eyes. The shadow of stubble on his chin.

  The very kissable chin she’d have loved to nuzzle against just then.

  Harrison Ames, she nearly whispered. Where have you been hiding all these years?

  “Have you been awake all night?” she managed.

  He shrugged. “Mostly.” His blue eyes flicked up to the window on the far side
of the barn. “Storm’s over.”

  She wished it were still raging, giving her the excuse to snuggle up with him some more. But he was right. A new day was breaking, and if the sun was shining, the vampires might be on the move again.

  Slowly, reluctantly, she extracted herself from his embrace and stood to stretch. He sat looking at her for a moment — just looking, like she was the star of a really interesting show and not just Nala, the youngest sibling of the Dixon clan. She reached for his hand, and he broke into a grin, like it was the funniest thing in the world for a she-wolf to want to haul a massive sasquatch to his feet.

  Show him. Her wolf grinned. Show him the power we have.

  She pulled just as he stood, creating more momentum than she expected, and their bodies came together in a near-crash. Face-to-face. Chest-to-chest. Both of them wide-eyed and suddenly, very much awake.

  He gripped her arms to keep from bowling her over entirely, and she stood there, blinking up at him.

  Kiss him, her wolf whispered. Kiss him.

  She looked at his lips, and damn — his eyes dropped to hers, too.

  Kiss me, she wanted to whisper, but all she could manage was a little twitch of the lips.

  Kiss him, already, her wolf growled.

  He leaned closer. She tilted her head and licked her lips. Energized sparks were already snapping wildly in the space between them, promising her how good that kiss was going to be. His eyelids drooped a little as he reached out for her, and she rolled to the balls of her feet.

  Then, Bang! The rake Harrison had propped against the door fell, and they both spun around.

  Nala’s heart pounded in her chest as she expected vampires to rush in, but there was nothing. Just streaming sunlight and a rush of fresh air saying, Get moving already. Just in case.

  She let out a slow breath and zipped up her jacket. “I guess we’d better go.”

  “I guess we should,” he said.

  She could feel his eyes on her, and though she longed to turn back and make good on the kiss fate had stolen from them, she didn’t quite dare.

  Harrison rooted around in his backpack and came up with a granola bar. “Sorry. It’s all I have.”

  She broke it in two and handed him half. “Breakfast of champions.”

  He smiled, and just like that, the awkwardness was gone again. Within a few minutes, they’d packed their bags and stepped outside, blinking like a couple of night owls in the morning sun.

  “Wow,” she breathed, taking in the wintery New England scene. “It’s gorgeous.”

  A thick blanket of snow covered the rolling hills, contrasting with the walls of a red barn half a mile away. Smoke rose from the chimney of the nearest farmhouse, and little flurries wafted off nearby trees. When Nala sighed, her breath puffed into a tiny white cloud, and Harrison’s did, too.

  It was one of those scenes she wished she had a camera to capture. Instead, she squeezed Harrison’s hand. Let that be her shutter. Let her eyes be the camera and her mind be the film, recording this moment forever.

  “Guess we should go,” she whispered a minute later, though she wished they could stay.

  And off they went — in human form, now that it was broad daylight. Their boots crunched over snow as they tread on their own long shadows, cast by the rising sun.

  “Should we risk the road?” she asked.

  He nodded grimly. “It would be faster.”

  “Any idea how far we are?”

  He sniffed the air and tilted his head from side to side. “Eighty miles, at least.”

  Shit. She hunched her shoulders, fighting off a shiver of fear. Eighty miles had never felt so hopelessly far. “Maybe we can hitchhike.”

  Harrison didn’t look so sure. “Maybe.”

  It was slow going until they reached the road, and even there, progress wasn’t much better until a snowplow came through, clearing a narrow track.

  “Better,” she said, extending her stride to keep up with Harrison’s long legs.

  “Better and worse,” he replied. “Makes it easier for the vampires to get through.”

  “Maybe they gave up,” she tried.

  “Maybe,” Harrison said, not too convincingly. “How did they find you, anyway?”

  “That’s what I can’t figure out. I’m sure they didn’t follow me. They just popped out of nowhere.”

  He looked at her. “Look, Nala, I hate to ask, but did you… Did you ever…” He trailed off, and she wondered why he was so tongue-tied.

  “What?”

  He pursed his lips and thought for a minute. “Vampires can track you if they’ve tasted your blood.”

  She stopped, shocked. Did he think she’d let a vampire feed from her? Yes, there were some women who got their kicks from that kind of thing, but not her. No way.

  “Ew. No. I would never let a vampire—”

  She cut herself off when she remembered the scene that day she’d crashed her bike. Hlavek had helped her up, and he’d licked her blood off his hand.

  Yum, his reddish, vampire eyes had glowed. Want more.

  “What?” Harrison asked.

  “I fell off my bike and bashed my knee. It wasn’t bad, but it was bloody. And he was there. Shit, Harrison. Hlavek tasted my blood.”

  Suddenly, it all made sense. All the times the vampire had popped out of nowhere to surprise her. All the times the cocky son of a bitch let her hurry away, supremely confident that he could find her again.

  Oh, God. The vampire could track her anywhere. He could be tracking her right now.

  She whipped around, eyeing the road behind them while picking up her pace. “Shit.”

  She’d left her phone in her car, so she couldn’t call home. She could try to reach her family by crying for help in her mind, but damn. Did she really have to resort to that?

  “The snow will slow the vampires down,” Harrison said, walking more urgently too. “If we just keep moving…”

  They did — in double time — but the world was waking up around them, and Nala grew more and more nervous with every minute that ticked by. A car drove past, then another, and when they cautiously approached a village, it was bustling with action. People shoveled snow. Kids launched snowballs at each other. Businesses were clearing their sidewalks to welcome last-minute Christmas shoppers before everything closed for the holidays.

  Nala took Harrison’s hand as she walked warily down the street.

  Stop shoveling, she wanted to shout to everyone. Stop that plow. Stop everything. There’s a vampire after me and—

  Harrison wrapped both his hands around hers, and the panic subsided again. She zipped up her parka, hiding behind the high collar — as if that would help cloak her from Hlavek — and walked on.

  A bell chimed, and the smell of bacon and eggs wafted out of a diner, making her mouth water. She didn’t dare suggest stopping, but Harrison slowed down and pointed inside.

  “A phone. They have a pay phone.”

  She practically ran for the door, thanking her lucky stars for all the quirky corners of New England that still did things the old-fashioned way. Everyone looked up when she rushed in, and their heads stayed up when Harrison followed. So much that she turned to double-check if he had sprouted his sasquatch fur. But no, thank goodness. It was just his height that caught their attention — and maybe his looks, too, because two waitresses immediately rushed over.

  “Can I help you?” they said at exactly the same time, batting their eyes at him.

  Nala growled under her breath and forced herself to concentrate on the phone.

  “Four muffins, please. To go,” Harrison said as Nala jabbed numbers into the phone.

  “Why not stay, honey?” the older waitress said.

  Not your honey, Nala wanted to bark. He’s mine.

  But was he?

  “Sorry, no time. Two coffees to go, too, please.”

  “We have a breakfast special,” the younger waitress tried, pushing her boobs up with her tray.

  Ha
rrison pursed his lips, looking grim.

  “Hello?” A voice crackled over the phone, and Nala turned her back on the diner for a measure of privacy.

  “Mom?”

  “Sweetheart, where are you? We’ve been worried sick.”

  Me, too, she wanted to say.

  “Um, the car broke down.” She tapped her fingers beside the phone, wondering how she could tell her mother about the vampires without alarming every human in the diner.

  “Where are you? Wait just a second. Lana and Ty got in last night. I have the kids with me now.” Her mother shushed the children scampering around the background.

  Nala glanced at Harrison. Her sister Lana and Ty, the powerful alpha wolf of Twin Moon pack, were visiting from Arizona. Should she warn Harrison about that?

  Her eyes ran up and down his frame. Nah. For one thing, she and Harrison had bigger worries than the prospect of facing Ty Hawthorne again. And anyway, she had a distinct feeling Ty would be the one taking a step back in surprise, not Harrison.

  “Say again, sweetheart?” her mother asked. “Where are you? What’s taking so long?”

  “I’m in—” Nala turned to the waitress who was still openly ogling Harrison. “What town is this?”

  The woman didn’t answer. Too busy mentally undressing Nala’s man. She ground her teeth.

  “Naples,” a man at the counter said.

  She nodded her thanks and barked in the phone. “Naples, Vermont. I ran into some trouble.”

  “Trouble? What kind of trouble?”

  The blood-sucking kind. How exactly could she make that clear without the humans all around taking her for a lunatic?

  “Remember the problem Lana said Twin Moon Ranch had a few years ago?” Surely her mother would remember hearing about the vampire attack in Arizona?

  “The trouble with the new cattle?”

  Nala made an exasperated sound. If only that were it.

  “No, Mom. The other problem.”

  “Hellhound?” her mother screeched.

  Nala winced and held the phone away from her ear. “No. The other problem.” Was she going to have to go through all the issues her sister had overcome at that ranch of hers?

  “Rogues?” her mother tried.